A Way To Go
by Anime Master ZERO
Summary: Takuya and Kouichi have recently been disappearing after school together, so their friends decide one day to follow them to find out exactly what they're up to.


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Disclaimer: I don't own _Digimon_, Toei Animation does.

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A WAY TO GO

Tail Them!

Takuya Kanbara tugged at the collar of his school jacket in the heat of the afternoon as he sat in class trying to keep up with the teacher's lesson. However, his mind kept wandering. He turned his head to the side and scratched the back of it with his left hand. However, it was just a cover for his true intention. While he was scratching, he looked over at Kouichi Kimura. The raven-haired boy had his full concentration on the lesson. However, he did managed to get a glimpse of Takuya looking at him. He glanced over at him and gave the brunette a slight nod before returning his attention to the notes on the overhead projector.

The day eventually came to an end with phys ed. being the last class of the day. Kouji had finished changing and was now standing outside the boys' locker room waiting for his brother. Izumi, who had also finished changing and had trekked all the way across the gym from the girls' locker room, was standing right next to him waiting for Takuya. Junpei had also decided to join them.

"What could be taking them so long?" asked Junpei.

"I spoke to my brother before I came out," said Kouji, "He should be out soon." As if on cue, Kouichi and Takuya came out of the locker room. However, neither of them was wearing his school uniform. Kouichi had changed into a black button-front shirt and white pants. Takuya had his cap and goggles on his head, as usual, as well as his red T-shirt overtop a yellow T-shirt and a pair of camouflage pants.

"Hey guys, why are you two dressed up like that?" asked Izumi.

"We have our reasons," Takuya answered. The friends headed out to the shoe lockers, where they removed their school shoes and donned their outdoor ones.

"We're headed to ice cream parlor," said Kouji, "You guys coming?"

"I'm definitely there," said Izumi.

"Me too," Junpei added.

"Sorry, but no can do," said Takuya as he finished lacing up his sneakers, "I've got some stuff I need to do."

"Same here," said Kouichi.

"Well, guess we'll be seeing you two later," said Kouji.

"Yeah," Takuya stood back up, slung his back over his shoulder and headed out with Kouichi, "Later."

***

"Do you guys get the feeling that something weird is going on?" asked Kouji as he, Izumi, Junpei, and Tomoki (who came over from his own school) sat in their usual booth at the ice cream parlor discussing recent events over shakes.

"It's really kind of weird how Takuya and Kouichi always seem to take off after school like that without telling us," said Junpei.

"And the fact that they change their clothes before leaving school, too," Izumi added.

"I'm pretty sure it's nothing, guys," said Tomoki as he took a sip from his chocolate milkshake.

"I seriously doubt it," Kouji muttered.

"Look, what's the worst that could possibly happen?" the younger boy asked.

"They could be gay and are going out everyday after school," Junpei suggested. This caused Kouji to spit out his vanilla shake onto the table.

"You have GOT to be kidding!" he said as he wiped his mouth off.

"Well it does kind of make sense," said Tomoki.

"I thought you were the one who said that it was probably nothing," said Izumi.

"Hey, anything is possible."

"Well Takuya can't be gay, that's for sure," said Izumi.

"You're his freaking girlfriend," said Kouji, "Besides, just because a guy's dating a girl doesn't mean that he doesn't have homosexual desires."

"And you'd know this how?" Izumi asked Kouji. The black-haired boy coughed.

"Anyway, Kouichi hasn't told me anything," he said, "At any rate, I've been noticing some weird clicking sound from his room and it's not his computer keyboard."

"If only we could find out for sure what they're doing," said Junpei.

"Why not just follow them after school?" Tomoki offered.

"That is such a lame idea," muttered Kouji, "It just might work."

"Then let Operation Sexuality in Question begin!"

"Tomoki?"

"Yeah, Izumi?"

"Think up a different name."

"Okay."

***

It was about ten-thirty and Takuya was sitting in front of his computer playing a few games before bed. His eyes moved to the side as he heard the door open and his brother Shinya popped his head in.

"Mom says it's time to go to bed."

"Tell her I'll sleep in just a bit." Shinya opened the door all the way and walked in.

"Are you still playing that game?" he asked.

"Yeah. What's it to you?" Takuya replied.

"If you're going to play online games, can't you play something else? You play this game all the time."

"Because I like this game."

"What's the point? You're just taking territory."

"Shinya, get out now."

"I'm not done talking."

"You are now."

"But…"

"Get out of here, you little cock-bite!" Takuya nearly shouted as he stood up. Shinya quickly ducked back out into the hallway and into his room. The older Kanbara brother quickly closed his door and locked it. Sighing, he picked up the phone and dialed Kouichi's number, hoping that the dark-haired boy was up.

***

Kouichi was sitting at his desk doing some homework when the phone rang.

"Kouichi, it's for you," Mrs. Kimura called.

"Thank mom!" Kouichi put down his pen and picked up the phone, "Kouichi here."

"Hey Kouichi."

"What is it, Takuya?" Kouichi asked slightly irritated, "I'm in the middle of my social studies homework."

"Well that's partly the reason I called since you know I'm not good at social," Takuya answered.

"Alright, what corrections do you need to make to your test?"

"Where did Perry sail into?"

"Uraga Bay."

"How many warships did he have?"

"Four."

After a few minutes, Takuya finally leaned back in his chair and stretched.

"Man, glad I got that out of the way," he said.

"Takuya, you know and I know that you called me for another reason besides homework," Kouichi said into the phone.

"Yeah, but it's just regarding after school tomorrow. And the others."

"You think they suspect anything?" asked Kouichi.

"Well Izumi's smart, but I don't think she's figured out exactly what we're up to. What about Kouji?"

"I think he's catching on, but I'm not one hundred percent certain."

"Anyway, are we going to the same place tomorrow?" asked Takuya.

"Actually, I was thinking about going someplace else," Kouichi answered, "It's not too far. It's just downtown."

"Just be ready," said Takuya as he grinned.

"Me? What makes you so sure you'll come out on top?" Kouichi asked.

"I managed yesterday."

"Yeah. After eight tries."

"Alright, I'll see you then."

"You're on, Takuya!"

"Bring it on, Kouichi!" Takuya took the phone away from his ear and hung up. Getting up, he stretched his limbs before shutting down his computer and turning off his light before climbing into bed and falling fast asleep.

***

The next morning at school, Kouji, Izumi, and Junpei stood just inside the school gates discussing their plan of action.

"Tomoki's going to meet us here as soon as he can," said Kouji, "Since his school lets him out earlier than ours, it'll be easier. We then tail Takuya and Kouichi and see exactly what they're up to."

"And speaking of those two, here they come now," said Junpei. The three friends dispersed and went their separate ways as Takuya walked into the schoolyard with Kouichi just a few meters behind him. Like everyone else, they were wearing their school uniforms but their bags contained their street clothes as well as their books.

Classes that day went on as usual. Nothing out of the ordinary happened. At the end of the day, Takuya and Kouichi disappeared into the boys' locker room and came out a few minutes later in their street clothes. Takuya had his cap and goggles, as usual, and his red T-shirt, but he was also wearing khaki cargo pants and a camouflage T-shirt underneath his red one. Kouichi wore light cream-colored pants, black shoes, and a dark blue button-front T-shirt. The two of them headed out to the shoe lockers and quickly changed their shoes before heading out.

"There they go," said Kouji.

"And there's Tomoki," said Izumi as the youngest member of their group arrived in front of the school gates. They quickly rendezvoused and then proceeded with their plan.

"Remember, keep out of sight at all times," Kouji reminded everyone.

"Right!"

Sticking to walls and ducking behind plants whenever possible, the four kept a close watch as the two boys walked off in their usual direction.

"Looks like they're headed into the subway," said Junpei.

"We can't risk losing them, but we can't risk them seeing us on the same train, either," said Tomoki, "What are we going to do?"

"I have an idea," said Junpei.

A few moments later, Takuya and Kouichi were standing on the subway train holding onto the handrails while sitting a few seats behind them were Kouji, Izumi, Junpei, and Tomoki, all pretending to read the newspaper.

"What are they doing?" asked Izumi.

"I don't know, but they're leaning pretty close to one another," Kouji whispered back. Just then, the train pulled into a stop and Takuya and Kouichi got off. The others followed them up the stairs and out of the station only to find themselves in downtown Tokyo.

"This is always the busiest part of town, so don't lose them!" said Kouji.

"There they go!" said Tomoki, pointing. Keeping hidden, the four continued follow their two friends until they reached a building. Kouichi reached into his pocket and pulled out a small slip of paper. He then nodded at Takuya and the two of them went inside.

"Well, they've reached their destination," said Junpei.

"So what now?" Tomoki asked.

"We wait," Kouji replied, "If they're doing anything, we can catch them red-handed if we walk in while they're in the middle of the act." They sat down at a nearby café and kept an eye on the building. About a half-hour later, Takuya and Kouichi still hadn't come out yet.

"Let's go," Kouji said calmly. They paid for their drinks and went inside the building. Except for a bunch of cubbyholes filled with shoes, there wasn't much else except for a flight of stairs. Kouji went up first, followed by Izumi, Tomoki, and finally Junpei.

"What's that clicking noise?" asked Tomoki.

"You probably don't want to know," Junpei told the younger boy.

"Looks like you win," they suddenly heard Kouichi's voice speak out.

"Another round?" Takuya voice sounded with a questioning tone at the end of his sentence.

"Why not?"

"Good God, they're at it!" Kouji gasped, "We're going in!" The four friends moved forward and walked into the room where they heard the voices coming from.

"Sorry to walk in on you two like this, but…" Kouji stopped in mid-sentence and looked around the room. Right next to the door was an elderly man sitting behind a counter. The rest of the room was filled with tables with chairs lining both sides of the rows. Takuya and Kouichi were sitting together at one of the farther tables near the window. In front of them was a wooden board with a 19x19 grid printed on it. Kouichi was holding a container containing a bunch of black things while Takuya was holding a container holding a bunch of similar white things.

"What are you guys doing here?" asked Takuya.

"We could ask you the same thing," Izumi replied.

"What's it look like?" asked Kouichi, "We're playing Go."

An awkward moment of silence followed. It continued to last for a few more minutes until Tomoki broke the silence.

"Since when did you start playing?"

"A couple years back," Takuya answered, "Actually, it was Kouichi who suggested that I learn."

"You learn how to play this game?" Junpei asked.

"Of course," replied Kouichi, "We're both Insei at the Japanese Go Institute, first class."

"But if you're just coming to play Go, then why were you two leaning so close to each other on the train?" asked Tomoki just before he realized that he had just blown their cover.

"So you guys really were following us," said Kouichi.

"Does that really matter right now? Just answer the question," Kouji demanded. His twin brother looked over at Takuya and nodded. The goggled boy nodded and reached into one of his cargo pocket, producing a magnetic Go set.

"We don't just study for school," he said, grinning.

The six friends stayed at the Go salon well into the rest of the afternoon. At seven-thirty, they left and headed home.

"You know, Takuya, I think we may have changed their whole outlook on the game," said Kouichi as he placed a white stone down on Takuya's magnetic Go board.

"I know. You saw how intently they watched us play," Takuya replied as he placed a black stone on the board, putting one of Kouichi's stones in atari, "I guess we've just begun to show them the finer points of Go."

"Agreed."

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Doko ni aru no ka na Boku dake no takaramono

Ima Ooki na bouken e

Yawara ka na hi sashi Tabidachi no yokan

Sora mo hana mo Hora Waratte iru

Kono saki ni wa nani ga matsu no darou?

Shinkokyuu Yume no tobira ni sotto te o kakete... "Yukou!"

Kaze ni fukare nagara Kokoro yurashi nagara

Masshiro na chizu o katate ni mochi nagara

Boku wa hashiridasu yo Yume o kanaeru tame

Donna kabe mo koete yaru

Kaze ni fukare nagara Asu o kaki nagara

Tooku made Doko made? Yukeru tokoro made

Tanjun na fuan mo fukuzatsu na mirai mo

Mou Nani mo nani mo Kowakunai

Yukkuri sagaseba ii Kizutsuku koto nante sore wa minna onaji da yo...

Kake dashita boku wa "Yume no tabibito" sa

Sora mo hana mo hora waratte iru

Tatta hitotsu no sou Jibun no michi

Kutsu no himo o musubu mae kara Akiramechaikenai... "Dakara!"

Kaze ni fukare nagara Kokoro yurashi nagara

Masshiro na chizu o katate ni mochi nagara

Kaze ni fukare nagara Asu o kaki nagara

Tooku made Doko made? Tadori tsukeru made

Zettai makenai yo Zettai nakanai yo

Kono yume o kanaeru sono hi made wa

Ano sora wa waratte ita Ano hana wa waratte ita

Boku mo itsu ka warau kara

Donna kabe mo koeru kara

Mou Nani mo nani mo... Kowakunai

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To those of you who don't know what it is, Go is a board game that originated in China. It's played on a 19x19 grid. Players take turns placing black and white stones on the board. Black always goes first. The winner is determined by whoever has the most territory surrounded.

Anyway, don't forget to review.


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